Baby #2 & Our Gender Reveal

After our miscarriage in December, it really crushed me. I’m not a very emotional person in general so I always thought if that happened to me I would be rightfully sad but that I would move on quickly because of the sheer logic behind it. That wasn’t the case. It broke me down and made me feel more lonely than I ever have in my entire life.

We knew we wanted to try again and if it didn’t happen with actively trying in January then we would just let things happen naturally. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I would get pregnant because of how emotional I was feeling over everything. I thought it would have caused too big of a burden on my body.

I told myself I wouldn’t test before my missed period like I did before because I didn’t want to get my hopes up just for them the be crushed again. 6 days before my missed period I went to bed feeling really weird and woke up with a fever. The only reason I knew I had a fever was because I was tracking my BBT every morning looking for trends. It was 100.3 but by the end of the day it was pushing 103. I texted my friend Tiffani who has lovingly become my nurse go to for all questions when I’m freaking out. Honestly, she is just the best because she never makes me feel like a dumb psycho for any of the outlandish things I ask her about.

She encouraged me to take a pregnancy test because if I was pregnant a high temperature isn’t the best thing in the world. I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I wasn’t ready for an answer one way or the other. Tylenol was helping my temperature but after the allotted time, it would spike back up so by the next morning I decided to test. THE FAINTEST POSITIVE. Sadly, I didn’t want to believe it or get my hopes up but I called my OB just to be safe.

First Test- January 16th

I tried to control the fever for two more days with Tylenol before heading to my primary care because every day my First Response test lines were getting darker. I tested negative for strep and the flu so they gave me some amoxicillin because my fever just wasn’t going away.

Second Test- January 17th

On January 19th, the day of my missed period, I took a ClearBlue Digital pregnancy test. After 3 positives on the First Response tests over 3 days I still couldn’t accept that I was until I saw those words “Pregnant.” Well…I got it! And I’ve been terrified of something bad happening ever since which I will talk more in depth about in my 1st Trimester Update next week but fast forward a few weeks to making the decision to being presented with the option of non-invasive prenatal testing.

Digital Test- January 19th

I talked about this in another blog post (read it here) and I did have it done with Teagan but honestly it wasn’t something I did out of needing peace of mind or needing to control part of my pregnancy in a positive way, it was solely out of my OB saying I should. I just didn’t understand how vital it is.

This time around, I knew we had to do it from the second I found out I was pregnant. We decided to go with the MaterniT21 Plus test. I was given options from my OB but I went with this company because I felt comfortable with all the information they made available to me. The fact that they are the pioneers of this genetic testing for reproductive health and that gave me a lot of comfort knowing I was in the hands of the best.

I was rattled with so much fear that something bad was going to happen during this pregnancy after a miscarriage, that I didn’t want to take any chances with not having every possible piece of information available to me. Yes, getting to find out the gender so early is incredibly exciting and we were so looking forward to that, but that had nothing to do with why I wanted and needed the NIPT done.

Anyone can have a pregnancy with a chromosomal abnormality—healthy women, mothers of all ages and all ethnicities can be at risk. Knowledge is power, and the test can help you prepare for the arrival of your special needs baby. I felt confident knowing that no matter the results of the test, we could prepare as a family. In my opinion, it isn’t even of question of whether or not you should do it. It’s a simple blood draw, completely non-invasive and 100% worth it. And the MaterniT21 Plus test is really the only way to go!

Once we got the results back that we had a healthy little baby on the way, it was time to find out if that little baby was going to be Teagan’s little brother or sister! With Teagan, we weren’t planning to find out the gender at all but with some miscommunication during an OB office change we ended up finding out while sitting on our living room floor at 27 weeks. To say it was anticlimactic would be an understatement. I didn’t need something grand but a video and/or pictures of our reaction would’ve been pretty cool.

This time around, we wanted to do something memorable. We wanted something fun to look back on and help us remember just how special that moment really is. That’s when I enlisted the help of my dear friend, Megan, who also happens to be the best photographer in Loudoun County and owns Celtic Gray Photography! She has taken all of our family photos starting with Teagan’s newborn photos and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else to capture that moment. Sharing such a special moment with such an incredible friend made it even better.

So that meant dropping off the envelope with the gender off at her house immediately after leaving my OB’s office because the pressure of keeping it in my possession was way too much. I totally trusted her to hold our secret. I ordered confetti cannons of both colors from Poof There It Is, which I highly recommend because they are made from biodegradable materials.

When we got to the shoot, I literally felt like my heart was in my butt. My heart was pounding so hard which typing now makes me sound like a psycho but it was really exciting and nerve wrecking. My parents were there to record it and also wrangle Teagan because there was a 0% chance of her standing still to be in the pictures.

Megan asked us what we all thought it was going to be. Cary, my mom and I all said are guts said boy. My dad was the lone ranger saying girl. After pulling the colored stickers off, Megan handed us the cannons and well…I’ll let you watch the video to see the rest!

My gut said boy but I was still so incredibly shocked. I think Cary was both shocked and a little sad he wasn’t going to be a #girldad for life that all he could focus on was if his cannon shot off all the way, which is hilarious watching it back.

Below are some of the pictures captured by Megan from Celtic Gray Photography. If you are doing a gender reveal, hire a professional to take the pictures. It’s completely worth it. It might have only been a few minutes of our lives captured but these photos captured so much genuine love and happiness and I will cherish them for a lifetime.

If you live in the DC area, I highly recommend using Celtic Gray Photography. That recommendation is in no way sponsored, I just adore Megan so much and think her work is stunning and that she has a way of capturing your family in the most genuine way. Her style captures the natural way of our family in every session and that is something that just simply can’t be beat. Thank you so much, Megan.

Another big thank you to Integrated Genetics (MaterniT21 Plus test) for giving me peace of mind during a pregnancy that started plagued with fear.